PROPWASH
18
October 2013
models for rent so you can stay right on site, or you can bring your own RV or trailer.
Tree cover is plentiful in the pit area, also.
We had some challenges with the weather. Our open water day was pretty much
blown out, however the first two and one half days of the four day event of racing
were terrific. Great temperatures and light to no breeze. The second half of the third
day, the heat really started to kick in with a brutal forecast for the final day. And I
mean brutal. Bugs, too. We planned to start the last day as early as possible and we
were done by 2:30.
There were a few new F.E. National Champions at this event. Congratulations to
Jim Osborne for picking up his first two F.E. National Titles (P-Ltd Sport Hydro and
P-Sport Hydro), Don Ast for winning 1/10th scale Unlimited Vintage and Dave
Newton for his fantastic win in 1/8th Scale Unlimited.
Mike Paganelli won the “traveled the furthest” to race with us coming all the way
from New York. He entered ten classes and only raced three of the four days. A true
testament for his ability to get all of his gear shipped, prepped, and then race. He also
brought 15 pounds of cryo-frozen meats and cheeses from his local butcher for many
of us to eat and enjoy!
Thank you to Dave Bestpitch and the rest of the District Nine crew for putting on
this event. For results information, please visit www.namba.com
The 2014 NAMBA Fast Electric Nationals will return to Michigan. They have a
fantastic spot at an Elks Club in Leonard, Michigan. The event will be held from June
24
through 28
th
, 2014. Michigan routinely pulls the highest boat counts for just about
any event they host. In fact, they are already planning for this event to be the biggest
F.E. event of all time. We’d love to see you there.
2013 F.E. Happenings
By David Newland
NAMBA FE Chairman
Fast Electrics have had a very
productive year in 2013. To start with,
we now have recognition in the
rulebook for our NAMBA Fast Electric
Nationals. Thank you to the NAMBA
Board of Directors and District Two for
making this happen. F.E. has been
having NAMBA Nationals events for a
few decades now, but nobody ever took
the time and effort to legitimize our
events. Nationals race results is also
now being included on the NAMBA
website.
All F.E. proposals passed that were
in the April 2013
Propwash.
To note,
F.E. now has a legal Catamaran sprint
class. It’s hard to believe that we
haven’t had this before, but the F.E.
rules were developed from the nitro
rules many years ago. Having a
Catamaran class for F.E. makes perfect
sense. Especially knowing how well the
RTR market is doing with this style of
boat. There are a number of Cat RTR’s
that can be bought right off the shelf and
raced in our P-Ltd racing classes. Also,
Cat’s can run in our 4 minute Offshore
classes so there is quite a bit of “bang
for your buck” with these boats. It’s
probably the best “entry level” class
F.E. has ever had, and it’s mostly due to
the manufacturers support.
Another proposal that passed helps
clean up the legal motor language for
1/10
th
scales. Another allows the
inclusion of two more motors into our
P-Ltd rules that were re-badged/re-
labeled motors of already legal motors.
We now have a legal course for F.E.
sprint racing. F.E. now follows
NAMBA’s legal course rules. And,
lastly, F.E.’s Offshore racing is no
longer eligible for any records.
The 2013 Fast Electric NAMBA
Nationals was held by District Nine at
Lake Minden, California. Though we
had a light turnout, the competition was
strong and the pace was comfortable.
Well, until the last day, which I’ll get in
to later.
Lake Minden is a great spot to hold
an event. It’s basically an R.V. park
with a nice, clay-bottomed lake that is
about four feet deep. They have park
The tree lined cold pits at Lake Minden
Pags with his pink polka dot suit case
Your NAMBA FE Chairman taking a well
deserved break tackling a burrito